Insomnia in children

Insomnia baby

The nature and structure of sleep changes throughout life.Most often insomnia, which in everyday lexicon is known as insomnia, suffer kids.This is not surprising: the central nervous system is immature infants, the cycle of "rhythm-wake" is not fully formed.Insomnia is defined by the International Classification of Sleep Disorders as a state of discontinuity night's sleep.The list of reasons why people go to the doctor for help, insomnia immediately follows the common cold, gastritis and headaches.Statistics are not encouraging: more than 25% of children aged up to 5 years is very bad sleep.

Do not be sad

Among the reasons for insomnia in children undoubtedly lead emotional stressors.Impressed baby starts to worry at night, if the experienced trauma.For example, the death of a pet.Such an event can leave a trace in the soul of a child is much deeper than parents think.The child is upset sleep, if disturbed the harmony of the family: parents separated, divorced, sick or quarrel.

provoke insomnia children may move to a new home, and school change.Babies insomnia particularly costly.Suffice it to recall a well-known fact: growth hormone, or HGH, is produced mainly during sleep, so the crumbs that bad sleep, often slows down physical development.The gradual build-up of sleep deficit affects the cognitive abilities of the child.

In some cases, lost the ability to think logically, children begin to behave like a plane on autopilot.Simple tasks are performed easily using a stereotypical set of answers.And everything that goes beyond the usual, accompanied by errors.The main causes of insomnia, which does not depend on the age, added to specific forms of insomnia, which are peculiar to certain age groups.

Possible causes of insomnia in infants

Insomnia children infants is often a reaction to the teething: increased salivation, saliva accumulates in the throat, causing the child wakes up and worries.In addition, babies experience pain when growing teeth erupt, expanding the gum.Babies are also very sensitive to the content in the air irritants.The most common irritant of the respiratory tract - the cigarette smoke.That is why it is not recommended to smoke in the room where the baby sleeps, and left open baby powder, paint, perfumes, use hairspray.

cause of nighttime awakenings, and kids often become allergic to food.Baby care segments feelings of pain and stress in a crowded jeep tummy.The most common culprit of these symptoms - cow's milk.Other possible allergens are eggs, wheat, corn, citrus, onions, fish, nuts, cabbage, chocolate.

Sometimes insomnia is caused by gastroesophageal reflex (GERD) - regurgitation of gastric juice.For children, this is the same sick feeling as an adult heartburn.It carries a lot easier when the baby is in an upright position.Other symptoms of GERD include frequent bouts of crying, spitting up after eating, frequent respiratory infections.

There is another reason why insomnia - worm infestation, especially pinworms.The female pinworms are moving down the intestine to the anus, which lay their eggs.This causes severe itching, which causes the child to wake up.

One of the most difficult to detect diseases of infancy - ear infections.Often the only symptom, indicating the disease is sleep disorder.The fact that the liquid in the supine position, which is formed due to infection, pressure on the eardrum.When changing your baby in an upright position the liquid retreats, pressure and pain are reduced.

Learning to walk

in age from 9 months to 2 years, many kids are not yet fully adapted to the new skills of walking and standing, which fascinate and frighten them.Therefore, sometimes the children, trying to get up in bed at night, do not know how to lie down again.During the day, parents should help the child to form this skill.

overabundance of information and physical activity throughout the day can also disrupt sleep baby.

baby so accustomed to the nightly ritual before going to bed, that his absence or modification can significantly disrupt sleep.This option is a sleep disorder marked in the International Classification of Sleep Disorders as a violation of sleep associations.

Most of the emotional causes of night waking the child 2-3 years related to anxiety about separation.At this age, the kid wants to control the environment, immediately noticed someone's absence.Kids are worried that during a dream world that they appreciate the change.

Another common among children up to 3 years, the problem - frequent night awakenings.This happens with the kids, accustomed only to fall asleep while rocking or feeding and is not able to fall asleep on their own.To develop this skill can change the set of associations that the child sleep.

Fear, terror

At the age of 3-6 years old children often prevents sleep too developed imagination, which is able to create frightening images.Preschoolers are afraid of noisy, vicious, uncontrolled monsters generated by their own imagination.The peak reaches fears at a time of falling asleep, when the child is left alone with the fruits of their imagination.Most frightening images projected onto real objects and objects, forming the so-called hypnagogic hallucinations.

Children's imagination is able to give a real threat so peaceful and harmless piece of furniture, like a cabinet or chair.The reflection of the street lamp on the wall turns into a terrible monster, forgotten on a chair sweater - in the insidious thief.Not surprisingly, the child can not sleep in a nervous atmosphere!Peak nightmares account for pre-school age.Do not worry, it only shows that the child is most actively recruited experience.

ate nightmares are rare, do not worry: after a couple of years, your baby will dream math lesson, not a bull.With frequent, with a repeating story, nightmares require specialist advice.

Light and sound

Often all that is needed for baby's sleep got up, - the formation of well-functioning "sleep-wake" cycle.Try to create a contrast between these two states.Well, when the day is filled with loud sounds, laughter, games.The closer to the evening, the talk quietly, mute the light.Soon it will be a signal for bedtime.

Light regime is also important for normal sleep.In the daytime it is recommended to be in bright light, which is beneficial to the subsequent sleep.The fact that melatonin is a hormone produced by the thyroid gland in darkness.In the morning, when the brain is rich in melatonin, sunlight allows you to quickly get rid of this hormone, which has a positive effect on the emotional state.This effect is the basis of phototherapy - using a special lamp for the treatment of sleep disorders.

About a third of all cases of insomnia associated with inconvenience bed too soft or too hard mattress, pillow high, narrow cot.

Another potential problem - the sounds in the bedroom.One way to solve the creation of so-called white noise generators which can act as a fan or a record with sounds of surf, wind, rain.

Before going to bed to avoid showdown, scandals and even surprises.Status of emotional stress slows down the process of falling asleep and impairs the quality of sleep.

Treatment

to medical treatment of insomnia in children , of course, should be treated with extreme caution.Hypnotics, so loved by adults, kids, of course, should not be given.To resort to sedatives without prescription herbal remedies help of an experienced specialist can not be the same.Among the treatments for insomnia leads psychotherapy, which involves working not only with the child, but also with their parents.It is widespread in the treatment of sleep disorders a variety of techniques of self-regulation:

muscle relaxation techniques;

calming exercises (stretching, self-massage);

breathing exercises;

exercise on the imagination (fingers, head, nose kid can become characters in games, and wish good night to various parts of the body facilitates the process of falling asleep);